Tommy Bartlett Exploratory (Lake Delton, Wisconsin)

USA / Wisconsin / Lake Delton / Lake Delton, Wisconsin / Wisconsin Dells Parkway (US-12/WI-23), 560

museum, science, amusement park, tourist attraction

One of the most exciting favorite Wisconsin Dells Attractions; all day, every day, the Tommy Bartlett Exploratory is the place to be for hands-on family fun. Filled with more than 175 interactive activities, it is sure to boggle your brain. This Wisconsin Dells indoor attraction is also the only place on Earth where you can see, feel and experience an authentic Russian Space Station MIR core module. Out of all the wonderful things to do in Wisconsin Dells, anything Tommy Bartlett is a must. Enter the Exploratory and get lost in the wonders of science, technology, space and fun!

It opened in 1982 as Tommy Bartlett’s Robot World, featuring lovable robots like those popularized by film and TV of the era. The following year, the Exploratory was added, allowing visitors to delve “hands-on” into science.

Today the Exploratory is an interactive science center featuring more than 175 exhibits that stimulate your senses and test your knowledge. From simple puzzles to computerized gadgets, the Exploratory caters to all ages.

Over time, older-style robots have been phased out to make way for exhibits featuring real-life space travel. The largest expansion came in 1997, when Tommy Bartlett purchased an original Russian Space Station MIR core module. More recently a replica of a Mercury Space Capsule was added. As well, outside exhibits like the new Giant Lever and High Wire SkyCycle entertain visitors to this extraordinary science museum in Wisconsin Dells.

560 Wisconsin Dells Parkway
Wisconsin Dells, WI 53965
Phone: (608) 254-2525
Fax: (608) 254-6103
Web: www.tommybartlett.com/

Open 7 days a week, from 9am-9pm (summer months), 10am-4pm (spring, fall & winter months)
Closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas & New Years Day

Cost of admission (as of 2016)
Adult (12+): $15.00 ($11.25 for group of 20+)
Child (5-11): $12.00 ($9.00 for group of 20+)
Senior (65+): $12.00
Children 4 and under free, call for details for group rates for 20+

Exhibits
Giant Lever Exhibit
The newest exhibit at the Wisconsin Dells exploratory will bring out your super human strength. Test your might with the new Tommy Bartlett Exploratory Giant Lever.

Perfect for the entire family, the new Giant Lever exhibit involves a large 57-foot steel beam weighing almost three tons, mounted on a tripod support, or fulcrum. Even the smallest of visitors will be amazed as they pull down on a rope to lift a 5,000-pound, full-sized vehicle off the ground.

Mercury Space Capsule
The Exploratory has an entire hangar dedicated to the marvels and milestones of space exploration. A replica of a Mercury Space Capsule gives visitors an up-close look at the small pod that represents the United State’s first manned spaceship.

The Mercury Space Capsule is compact, only 6-feet 10-inches long and 6-feet 2½-inches in diameter. And while small, the capsule’s significance is grand, representing America’s first steps toward human space flight. The five-year run of the historic Project Mercury missions were the precursor to the first moon landing in 1969.

The original group of astronauts chosen for the program were called the Mercury Seven and included: Scott Carpenter; L. Gordon Cooper, Jr., John H. Glenn, Jr., Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, Walter M. Schirra, Jr., Alan B. Shepard, Jr., and Donald K. "Deke" Slayton.

The Mercury Space Capsule protected the space pioneers as they blasted off into space, and then brought them back down to Earth.

Russian Space Station MIR
The Tommy Bartlett Exploratory in Wisconsin Dells is the only place on Earth where visitors can see, feel and experience an authentic Russian Space Station MIR core module. Only three core modules were made for the MIR program. The one that went into space burned up when it was de-orbited and crashed to Earth. A second module is warehoused in Russia and the third remains on permanent display at the Tommy Bartlett Exploratory. So how did this monstrous piece of space memorabilia end up smack-dab in the middle of the Midwest? Tommy Bartlett purchased it from a Moscow museum in 1997 and set it up at the Exploratory.

Visitors can walk through the 43-foot-long structure that was designed as the operational nerve center for space explorers living on the MIR Space Station. A fun and educational experience, you will be able to investigate the module and see up close what the conditions were like for those who dared to live in outer space.

Journey to the Tommy Bartlett Exploratory and take a step into a piece of history that can only be seen in Wisconsin Dells.

High Wire SkyCycle
Daredevils big and small can experience the thrill of riding a bicycle across a tightrope on the Tommy Bartlett Exploratory High Wire SkyCycle (weather permitting).

The special bike is positioned on a one-inch cable 12 feet in the air. With the help of a pendulum that hangs below, the bike is balanced as riders pedal along the wire just like a circus performer.

There is no net below, yet riders wear a harness as they steady themselves on the High Wire SkyCycle and carefully traverse the cable with a burst of adrenaline.

Call it the world’s thinnest bike trail. It’s a photo-op not to be missed.

Virtual Sports Center
Visitors can get their game on at the Tommy Bartlett Virtual Sports Center in Wisconsin Dells. Through virtual reality programs, explorers can try out various sports, testing their skills against the computer.

Take your love for sports to the next level. Visit the Tommy Bartlett Virtual Sports Center and play hockey, basketball and soccer, as well as extreme sports like snowboarding.

The video game generation will appreciate the computer-powered activities where it is man vs. machine.

Van de Graaff Generator - Bridge of Fire Exhibit
Visitors literally have a hair-raising experience with the Van De Graaff Generator – Bridge of Fire exhibit. The interactive display highlights the static electricity generator built by Dr. Robert J. Van de Graaff in the early 1940s.

The Bridge of Fire continues to be one of the most popular exhibits in the Exploratory, allowing you to feel the interior power of a thundercloud. Witness your hair stand on end as you and family members hold your hands near the generator, picking up the electro-static charges.

Get your camera ready for a shockingly funny bad-hair day snapshot.

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